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Checking the bodies, Dural would estimate that they have only been dead for a few hours. Sometime in the night when you were asleep. Usually, you'd find Carrion Crawlers hauling away their kills in order to let them fester and rot a bit more (a little decay is a delicious thing). This many dead bodies, and a Crawler carcass to boot? Dural is surprised that there are not more Crawlers here now. Or an Ooze. Undermountain is rife with Oozes.

You have two choices to exit this immediate area and try to make your way North and to the well. You can crawl over the carcass in the doorway leading east. But that was the way you came in the first place. You could try to find a new route through that door. Or, you can follow the hallway west, back towards the unnatural wall of darkness blocking the hallway to the west.

Barran looks back and forth from the creepy Carrion Crawler's collapsed corpse to Neblin a few times until it clicks."Ohhhh..." He wiggles his fingers under his chin in the same way the gnome had earlier, "I get it."

"Speaking for the 'bite-sized' contingent of the group, I advocate not making us climb over that thing and get its stink all over us. Do you think if we spend one more day down here the corpse cleaners will take care of themselves, and then we can make a break for the Well?"

"I'm not keen on tangling with those things if we can help it," says Philo. "But we need to get Angus and Neblin back to the Well as quickly as we can so we can return and deal with Zarr. Are we sure there's no clear way back to the Well past that dark wall?"

"I agree with Philo. I'd rather not deal with them, either, but the way behind us leads us back through Lady Zarr's lair, or worse, and in the opposite direction of the well. We can't be sure what is in front of us, but both Dural and I came to the conclusion that the well is in that direction. If we are quick, we may be able to make it through this area before more of these things show up."

My vote is we go through the door. Clearly not safe, but neither is anything behind us. And at least this one gets us in the direction of the well.

As a reminder, the potential exit at "B" on the map is the one blocked by the darkness. This path was not examined in any way previously.

6F" is where trap wall receded back into the ceiling. Currently you are standing in the intersection just south of that. The Drow and Goblinoid bodies are spread out to the east and around that corner is where Neblin discovered the Carrion Crawler corpse.

// so to be clear: carrion crawler way is the way we came, into zarr's territory, not directly going to the well, but we'd know our way back -VS- a darkness spell that would likely result in a shorter path to the well with no immediate monsters to tangle with? Does anyone have an ingame reason for knowing that that path would be shorter, because otherwise we have little reason to go that way..

I am thoroughly confused then. Didn't the statue at 6B have a lever that opened a door or something? Or did we do nothing with that?

The statue at 6B did have the switch to open up the door/wall. That was why Barran laid out his clothes by the fire, and there was that Dural/Angus/Neblin relay before the door opened. Barran flicked the switch, then he and Neblin ran back to the fire, put on his gear, and then joined the rest of you only after the bodies were discovered.

// so to be clear: carrion crawler way is the way we came, into zarr's territory, not directly going to the well, but we'd know our way back -VS- a darkness spell that would likely result in a shorter path to the well with no immediate monsters to tangle with? Does anyone have an ingame reason for knowing that that path would be shorter, because otherwise we have little reason to go that way..

Yes. There was a bit of no-mans-land before getting to Zarr's territory (remember the trapped hallway where you used light spells like flashlights in order to avoid the pressure plates yet still minimize your exposure to wandering monsters?), but that is exactly right.

And you do have an in-character reason....Ay made an excellent Survival roll to get his bearings, and Dural's background feature means that you guys know where the Well is and pretty much how to get there. You just don't know what is in between here and there. Below is the post where you all "learned" the way back to the Well.

The dwarf shrugs, "Could be close, could be another room o' insects in between us and it. Didn't see much on th'quick rush in 'ere, but if this room won't do for a longer breather than we could poke our way out and back. Ain't nothin' in the halls right now."

(( Incidentally, @Steelhawk , I have the Outlander background which notes: "You have an excellent memory for maps and geography, and you can always recall the general layout of terrain, settlements, and other features around you." Would I be able to get a sense of how far away we are from the Well from our current position based on the path we took to get here? ))

Well that's a handy background feature for dungeon delving. "Recall" is the operative word there, I think. New places are still a mystery. But, you can easily find your back to the well via the way you came for sure. Getting there from another direction in the dungeon is a bit trickier since you haven't see this part before, but doable. Using that knowledge from the trip here, and gauging distances with your mental map then Dural would absolutely agree with Ay's hunch that the Well is almost directly west of you. If you were to head west, then absolutely...with your talent and Ay's hunch, you can definitely find you way back to the well with out too much hassle. The map you've been keeping in your head says that you are approx. 270 feet east of the well and 50 feet south of it. However, there is not a direct path through to the Well, obviously.

This background feature added to Ay's Nat20 would make your trip back to well quicker, less prone to wrong turns, and with less opportunity for random encounters by other denizens or dungeon explorers. Good one!

Salazar would rather try the new direction.
Zarr sending that many people after them on what could have been a fool's errand makes him wonder how many *more* units she has in reserve.
Not only that, she only sent one of her own out; a female drow is highly unlikely to be this far up without significant backup.
And hey, perhaps hitting her from a direction she didn't just send a squad in will give us the element of surprise!

I am still sadly confused. But I will remedy that with "Ay will want to take the path most aligned with his intuition of the direction of the well." I.e., he feels he knows where it is, so he wants to go that way, in the most direct path possible.

The dwarf just briefly shrugs at Barran, while continuing to occasionally prod the carrion corpse, "With th'smell of the water just behind us, can't possibly be any worse. Although, given how these things attract their kind when dead, I'd be a tad worried if we were to inadvertently cover ourselves with that same smell an' be walkin' around this dungeon, with their kin in toe."

// let's all meta game this a bit and trust that steelhawk isn't trying to trick us!
which means him putting a large, smelly carrion crawler corpse in the way in one direction means we need to go in the other one! ;)

I already tricked you by giving you the option of the hallway draped in a curtain of darkness vs the path to the north that "looked clear". Now you have a choice between "Backwards...with added Monstrous Warning" and "Forwards thru Magical Darkness"

(Credit where credit is due, the original adventure mostly tricked you...I took the Watery Worship room almost straight out of 2E, as well as the curtains of darkness randomly sprinkled throughout the dungeon. I just changed which direction the trap originated from & changed the very much alive Orc who would have ambushed you with his nest of crossbows into a dead Goblin with useful stuff...also changed out the Baneguard for Ghouls)

The fact that you guys are hesitant and worried about whatever fuckery I'm going to throw at you next, warms the cockles of my DM's heart and shows me that I'm doing a fairly good job at showcasing the dangers of Undermountain!

This was where somebody was supposed to, IC, go and examine said curtain of darkness, but don't worry about it now. I'll push the game forwards when I get a chance post something more significant than a line or two later on today.

After deliberating on which way to go, hemming and hawing over whether to backtrack over the corpse of the Carrion Crawler versus risking the hallway blocked with darkness. Eventually, Salazar gets fed up with the discussion and heads over to the darkness.

It seems as if the hallway simply turns to the south but where an open tunnel just like any other would be, there is only...nothing. The deepest of darks that not even darkvision can penetrate. Salazar frowns a bit and reaches out with his magically attuned senses. With a mental shake of his head, he internally chastises himself for worrying because there is nothing to worry about. All it is, seemingly, is none other than a standard Darkness spell. Shaped like a curtain, blocking the hallway and made permanent. (And although Salazar would never admit it, the power of the wizard who created it is frightening). Taking a deep breath and hoping that there is not a pit trap on the other side, the prideful Tiefling steps right through the darkness, to the astonished gasps of his companions. Moments later his well manicured hand emerges from the darkness and a beckoning finger motions the rest of you to come through.

The rest of the party gingerly moves through the curtain of darkness. Experiencing nothing more then a moment of apprehension before emerging again in the familiar hallways of Undermountain. Moving about 30' the south the hall turns to the west again before coming to set of double doors. The doors open into a 20 x 50' room, stretching north. The statue is dominated by a stone statue sitting on a 3' square stone base. A nude human female rises from the base, a stone snake twined around her body with a wand sticking out of the serpents mouth. The walls and floor and ceiling of the room are scorched and burnt from the residue of repeated magical effects. As the party completely moves into he room, a twinkling set of lights forms at the tip of the wand moments before it bursts into a prismatic spray! Poorly aimed, or not aimed at all, the brilliant multi-coloured fan blasts into the western wall. Recovering from your momentary shock, a few seconds pass before another random blast of power erupts from the wand, this time a lightning bolt strikes somewhere to the southwest!

"GO!" someone roars, Dural? Philo? It doesn't matter...collectively you all storm towards the north, head down and praying that the next fireball doesn't catch you in the haunches. In the northeast of the room, another hallway that heads east 30' before turning back to the north. One more twist, and the hallway runs straight north again finally, finally, reaching the slightly sunken, pillar filled anti-magic room. Squammulsh and her Hall of Mirrors is to the west of you, and the Well back up to the Yawning Portal is to the east.

"Wizards, pah!" is grumbled as soon as he gets a moment to breathe, "Can't e're try an' kill you a proper way. Always have t'aggravate ye first. Least this looks familiar, finally," he says, trailing off before wandering around the room and checking the various exits of the room, in an attempt to track if anything living (or worse) has come through or moved in while they were gone.

Its quite difficult, as this room is pretty much the first thing that adventurers come across when entering the dungeon via The Yawning Portal, and there is not much accumulated dust to show footprints

As well as you can figure, the last people to enter this room where you and your companions.

The dwarf claps his hands together, dusting off whatever detritus has accumulated in the meantime and eventually walks back to the party. "Dun see anythin' strange pass by while we were gone. T'be fair, this be rather high traffic, so it'd be hard to figure either way, but likely a clear path t'the well if'n we want t'head straight there."

"Sounds good to me, lad!" Angus says, slapping Dural on the back. He seems absolutely giddy at the prospect of going home. "I know me way from here. I can take Neblin with me and head back up th' well ourselves if'n yer rarin' ta take on th' Drow. I'll be sure ta get word out to the City Watch an' let 'em know about th' bastard Dark Elves an' their slaving ways. Mebbe we can put a stop ta whoever is sending the children down to the dungeon in th' first place."

Angus pauses a moment and looks downright embarrassed. "Lads...I cannae thank ye enough. Ye saved me life, and Neblin's too ye can be sure. Anythin' ya need, you let me know and I'll do me best ta make it happen." he dips into a bow so low his beard brushes along the dungeon floor. "Angus Stienrut at yer service. Now an' forever."

... "Um. One more thing. Any chance we can get a gold piece each ta' pay Durnan fer the use of 'is Well? You know how 'e is."

Philo hands over a gold piece each from the party treasure. "Our thanks for the fish, and the advice along the way, gentlemen," he says. "We'll see you when we get back." As the gnome and dwarf head for the Well, he turns back to the party. "Alright, then, let's get moving. Lady Zarr has an appointment with the edge of a sword."

//wouldn't mind catching up with Neana again! *wink wink, nudge nudge*
unless you want to make food an issue, we're good I think?

Your desire to have your horns polished aside, I don't think you need to worry then. 1) You just had some damn fine meals prepared by an exotic chef 2) Its only been a day, so the "standard adventurers kit" rations are full and 3) I really only worry about food unless the plot calls for it.

"Be safe, Angus and Neblin. We'll come and visit when we are done with Lady Zarr." Turning to the others as those two disappear around the corner, "We're about as rested as we are going to get, and the supplies we've found while in here have kept us stocked well enough. I think it's time we make our way to Lady Zarr's lair. By now she knows something is happening, but we may still be able to strike before she has time to completely replenish her forces. We should also make sure we've found ways to put those magical items and scrolls to good use.

The dwarf says his goodbyes to the pair traveling with them before checking his tools, weapons, armour, shield, supplies, and other necessities as everybody mills around, preparing for the fight to come.

Barran gives Angus a firm handshake, and does his best to show his appreciation to Neblin without having a language in common with the Deep Gnome. The best he can do is to indicate Angus and Dural with a tilt of his head and a smiling shrug, as if to communicate "You take care of yours, and I'll take care of mine." Neblin, expressive as always, rolls his eyes.

When the pair of former captives have departed from view, Barran turns his attention to his gear. Arrows, crossbow, sword, goblin-smelling cloak... He sits for a moment with the scroll case before approaching Salazar with one of them.

"It seems to me like you're the man among us to know the best time and place to drop one of these, and I think you'd get a lot more enjoyment out of it than the rest of us."

@evilthecat , Barran is offering Salazar the Fireball scroll if he wants it.

I surely did, because I thought Philo was in possession of the Glowglobe and the last time anybody mentioned the rod that controlled the prison sphere, Barran passed it to Salazar during an attempt to bluff the mooks in the cafeteria.

I know you've updated it a few times periodically, but would it be possible @Steelhawk to get a list of current treasure/items/quest items/etc. in the OP and have it updated there, as a quick reference?

I know you've updated it a few times periodically, but would it be possible @Steelhawk to get a list of current treasure/items/quest items/etc. in the OP and have it updated there, as a quick reference?

That's a really good idea. I'll try and get that sorted out later this weekend.

I know you've updated it a few times periodically, but would it be possible @Steelhawk to get a list of current treasure/items/quest items/etc. in the OP and have it updated there, as a quick reference?

That's a really good idea. I'll try and get that sorted out later this weekend.

Alright, I've updated the 2nd post in the thread (the meet the players post) with an ongoing treasure tally at the bottom. The only things listed there are the now unclaimed items, as well as the "Quest Items" you have.

And yes, you've been carrying around the key and the prison this entire time. And this was the item that Lady Zarr was sacrificing some of her slaves to try and retrieve. So it has some value to her.